Very frustrating, nothing worse than the possibility of being killed by a small vegetable (the embarrasment!). I haven't eaten a salad in two days! And now there's a mass spinach-cull in stores and eateries.

Staff: Mentor

NONE of the people that were affected by bagged spinach remembered where they bought them? There aren't that many brands of bagged spinach at my supermarket, maybe 2-3 tops. It really wouldn't be hard to isolate which were contaminated. I don't get how they don't know which brands or where the spinach came from. Did the e coli also cause amnesia?

From what I heard, they haven't isolated it to a single brand. The cases have been spread across 20 states! I don't know if that's because too many people have already thrown away the bags and/or forgotten what brand they had to trace it, or because it's multiple brands that are contaminated.

They're telling people to just throw it away, but would it be okay if it was cooked? That just sounds like so much food to be wasting, especially when the majority of it isn't contaminated (it's been 90 cases since August, spread across 20 states...out of how many bags of spinach sold and consumed?)

I blame the baggers in the grocery stores who have a habit of putting the raw chicken in the same bag as the spinach! I kid you not, I've had to tell them to stop just as they were about to do that several times (enough that I wrote to the store and complained about the idiots bagging groceries there...bad enough if they squish my bread and tomatoes with canned goods, but to bag raw meat and fresh vegetables together is insane!)

Staff: Mentor

Moonbear said:

From what I heard, they haven't isolated it to a single brand.

How can that be? The bagged spinach I've seen has names like Del Monte on it. I wouldn't be surprised that one processing plant sends out produce under several different brands, but can't these people remember where they shop? I mean, there has to be a source that is contaminating the spinach before it is bagged. It is bagged and sealed BEFORE it gets to the grocery store, they're not talking about loose produce you bag yourself.

How can that be? The bagged spinach I've seen has names like Del Monte on it. I wouldn't be surprised that one processing plant sends out produce under several different brands, but can't these people remember where they shop? I mean, there has to be a source that is contaminating the spinach before it is bagged. It is bagged and sealed BEFORE it gets to the grocery store, they're not talking about loose produce you bag yourself.

Unless it was contaminated in the field or at some distributors location, not at the packaging plant. I don't know if several packing plants receive spinach from the same producers, or really how any of that works. It's not like cattle that each come in with their own identifying eartag that you can trace the farm of origin of every single steak.

As for remembering what brand you buy, I don't know. I don't usually pay any attention to that at all. When I have to resort to lettuce in a bag, there's several brands to choose from, and I only pick through all of them until I find the bag that looks the least wilted. I couldn't even tell you what brands the store carries. You'd think there would be enough cases where they'd still have the bag in the trashcan or the remainder in the fridge to definitely identify the brand they ate, so I can only guess that it's not all the same brand, and something that has to be traced to a producer, and that might not be easy if there's some system where the spinach is getting mixed together from multiple producers.

If they knew there was a specific brand, I don't think they'd be telling people to throw any and all bagged spinach away, they'd be telling them the brand(s) that they should look for.

Staff: Mentor

Moonbear said:

As for remembering what brand you buy, I don't know. I don't usually pay any attention to that at all.

That's what I don't understand, they don't need to know what brand, only what store. Grocery stores don't usually carry more than 2-3 brands of bagged spinach. If you go to that store, you know what brands they sell and can easily determine where the supplier is. It's a no brainer. Then you check out the couple of suppliers and see if they have contamination or are involved in other lines that could create contamination. It's NOT HARD.

How many different grocery stores do you shop at? How many stores would a single person be buying bagged spinach from in a fairly short time span?

That's what I don't understand, they don't need to know what brand, only what store. Grocery stores don't usually carry more than 2-3 brands of bagged spinach. If you go to that store, you know what brands they sell and can easily determine where the supplier is. It's a no brainer. Then you check out the couple of suppliers and see if they have contamination or are involved in other lines that could create contamination. It's NOT HARD.

How many different grocery stores do you shop at? How many stores would a single person be buying bagged spinach from in a fairly short time span?

Something just doesn't sound right here.

Well, since out of all the spinach sold and eaten in this country, only 90 people have gotten sick over a span of about 3 weeks, maybe just checking at the suppliers isn't giving answers. Here, I shop at two grocery stores, but everywhere else I've lived, I've shopped at 3 or more. I will pretty much only go to one in a week unless I'm looking for something in particular that that one didn't have, but I do know people who coupon clip who will actually shop at 3 or 4 stores in one day to buy everything on sale.

But, it still doesn't help if it's more than one supplier. If my grocery store has 3 brands, and yours has 3 different brands, none coming from the same packaging plant, and we both got sick from E coli, which brand is it? I wonder how they are even certain it's spinach, though, if they can't narrow it down at all? Fresh spinach is a pretty common thing for people to buy and eat, so is that really the only thing these people had in common? You'd think there'd be thousands affected if it was spinach. One truckload would fill a lot of packages.

The source of a nationwide E. coli outbreak that killed one person and sickened 100 more has been traced to a California company.

Natural Selection Foods, based in San Juan Bautista, Calif., agreed to recall its bagged spinach products.

But an official from the Food and Drug Admininstration said late Friday there could be other sources of the bacteria.

And another article addressing it:

The nation's largest grower of organic produce said on Friday it had voluntarily recalled fresh spinach products sold in the United States, Mexico and Canada after the U.S. government said they could be linked to a deadly and worsening E. coli outbreak.

Staff: Mentor

I think this is a huge over reaction. I'm sure they are pretty sure of the source, but are probably afraid to say if they don't yet have conclusive evidence, it could result in a HUGE lawsuit if they can't prove it (the contamination might no longer be present). So, to be on the safe side, they issued a blanket statement to pull all pre-bagged spinach.

But, it still doesn't help if it's more than one supplier. If my grocery store has 3 brands, and yours has 3 different brands, none coming from the same packaging plant, and we both got sick from E coli, which brand is it? I wonder how they are even certain it's spinach, though, if they can't narrow it down at all? Fresh spinach is a pretty common thing for people to buy and eat, so is that really the only thing these people had in common? You'd think there'd be thousands affected if it was spinach. One truckload would fill a lot of packages.

"It is possible that the recall and the information will extend beyond Natural Selection Foods and involve other brands and other companies, at other dates," said chief medical officer with the FDA's Center for Food Safety, Doctor David Acheson.